


Finding eachother

by kitravenclaw



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Caring, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Melendaire, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-19 00:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22402276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitravenclaw/pseuds/kitravenclaw
Summary: Claire gets injured and Neil is there to help her. They get closer but have a hard time admitting to any romantic feelings. The friendship between Claire and Morgan also becomes stronger.
Relationships: Claire Browne/Neil Melendez
Comments: 15
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1: The accident

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language, so please excuse my grammar.   
> Heads up; there will be some smut in later chapters.

Chapter 1

Claire stared up at the dark black sky. Her back burning against the hard, cold, wet asphalt. Her lips formed words but no sound came out. The rain pouring down didn’t make things better. She tried to figure out where she was, what had happened and why she was lying on the asphalt in the pouring rain. 

The pain suddenly pierced through her body, making her shriek and it all came back to her. She had been heading home from her night shift at the hospital when she had been assaulted by two men. They had dragged her into a dark alley and beaten her up, only to get her purse. She had no idea how badly she’d been injured, but judging from the pain, she might just need an ambulance. Only her phone had been stolen and there were not a single soul in sight. She tried to get her head together to figure out what to do. 

Neil had just come home from a long shift at the hospital and desperately needed some sleep. He’d just put on his pajama pants and a t-shirt, before heading to bed. The same second his head hit the pillow, the doorbell rang, followed by some desperate knocks, before the doorbell was rung repeatedly. He cursed, very annoyed at whoever was ringing his doorbell at five in the morning. 

Claire was leaning against dr. Melendez’s door frame, knocking repeatedly. She had just walked twenty minutes in the dark, injured and freezing. All her friends were all doctors and dr. Melendez was the only one not at work and close enough to walk to. She just prayed he would open the door because she was on the verge of fainting.

Neil opened the door ready to yell at the person depriving him of his precious sleep. His stomach turned when he saw Claire outside his door and what state she was in. She was soaked from the rain and her face was badly bruised, her lip and eyebrow cut. Probably had more as well seeing she had trouble standing and her hand was pressing against her ribs. 

“Claire, Jesus, who did this to you?” He suddenly felt a mix of concern and rage as he caught her when she stumbled in his door. 

“I..I was mugged...I’m sorry I didn’t have anywhere else to go, dr. Melendez” she whispered, wincing slightly. 

As he got her to his couch he helped her out of her shoes and coat. She was still in her scrubs, probably so tired after her shift that she forgot to change. He worked quickly and assessed her injuries. He called an ambulance and cursed when they were 20 minutes out, his car was at the workshop so he couldn’t drive her either. 

“hey, Claire, stay with me, you need to stay awake” he held her face in his hands when he noticed she dozed off. “Listen, I need to see all of your injuries and you need to get out of these wet clothes…”

Claire understood what he meant and nodded softly. “Go ahead”

Neil immediately swept her up in his arms and carried her upstairs, laying her down on his bed so she would be more comfortable. 

“I’m really sorry for bothering you this late Dr. Melendez” she tried to apologize as he removed her pants, examining her legs. He couldn’t care less. Even though he’d never admitted it to himself, he cared a little bit too much about her well-being. And seeing her like this made him want to kill the ones responsible. 

When he tried taking off her shirt she winced because she couldn’t really lift her arms above her head. Neil thought for a second and he didn’t have any scissors nearby, so he simply grabbed her shirt and ripped it down the middle. 

“Neil!” Claire gasped by his surprising move. “Do you normally rip off women's shirts when they’re in your bed?” Claire chuckled softly, trying to joke to take her mind off the pain. 

Neil felt his heart beat slightly faster as he heard her say his name. She never called him ‘Neil’, she always used ‘dr. Melendez’. He chuckled at her joke and replied, “what makes you assume I have a lot of women in my bed?” He looked at her and his heart sank as he saw her severely bruised upper body. She most likely had internal bleeding and needed surgery, and that fast.

“You didn’t answer my question” Claire stated after she saw his face expression to her injuries. She knew it was bad. 

“No.” He looked at her “only you.” And with that Claire passed out. Neil cursed and did what he could to treat her injuries and warming her up. Time seemed to move so slow, but the ambulance did finally arrive.


	2. Chapter 2: Morgan interferes

Chapter 2

Claire’s eyes fluttered open. Taking a few seconds to adjust to the light and surroundings. It took her a few minutes to remember what had happened and to understand that she was laying in a hospital bed. “N..Neil?” her word came out a slight whisper. Looking around she didn’t see him but found her co-worker Morgan sitting in a chair beside her bed. 

Morgan’s eyes lit up as she saw Claire awoke. “Oh Claire, we have been so worried. How are you feeling?” Morgan had grabbed her hand. The two weren’t really that close, but Morgan considered her a friend. 

Claire smiled softly. “I feel terrible, but I’m good” she said and sat up slowly. “So how bad is it?” she looked at Morgan, knowing she had the answers.

“Well your body was badly beaten. You have a sprained wrist, two broken ribs, which perforated one of your lungs. As well as some cuts and bruises. But we managed to fix your lung and the internal bleeding without any complications. You will be completely fine, Claire” Morgan explained. 

Claire simply nodded. “Uhm, where’s Ne..dr.Melendez?” she asked and bit her lip. Memories of a slightly hysterical Neil last night came back to her. The thought of him ripping her shirt off made her blush softly. 

Morgan grinned at her soft blush, she had long before predicted something would happen between them and this just strengthened her theory. “He’s basically been sitting by your side ever since he finished your surgery. As well as several angry phone calls to figure out who did this to you. He’s been crazy worried about you. He just left to assist on an emergency surgery.”

Claire smiled slightly at what Morgan told her. “He should rest, he hasn’t slept in god knows how many hours” Claire said concerned. 

Morgan grinned. “Look at you two all worried about each other. One would think you were more than just co-workers or friends” she teased. 

“Oh stop it” Claire smiled and laughed. “We both know he’s my boss...and nothing’s happened.” she said. “If you rule out the fact that he undressed me in his bed last night. He even ripped my shirt open.” Claire chuckled.

Morgan gasped. “He did what?” she knew it wasn’t for the reason she hoped but it still was exciting. She’d definitely use that to tease them later on. “I’m gonna go see if he’s done. I think he’ll be pleased to hear you’re awake.” she smiled and left to go find him.

Claire leaned back and sighed. She was definitely crushing on her boss. She knew it was wrong but she couldn’t control her feelings. What was she going to do about it? She had no idea. 

Neil entered her room, a big smile spread across his face when he saw she was awake and smiling. “Claire, how are you feeling?” he asked sitting down on the side of her bed.

“Better, thanks to you.” she smiled.

“Oh don’t thank me. I’m not the reason you’re okay. You are. If you hadn’t come to my house you might have died. I’m still amazed on how you managed to walk so far when you were that badly injured.” he said, looking at her.

“Well, you still performed a successful surgery. “ she said with a smile. 

“You really had me worried, Claire.” He clenched his fists, angry at the people that did this to her. 

“You were worried about me?” Claire smiled at the thought.   
“Yeah, well you’re my star resident, of course I’m worried.” Neil couldn’t bring himself to actually tell her that he cared very much for her, not just because she was his star resident.   
“Well, I’m going to let you rest, your body needs to heal for a few days.” He smiled softly at her and stood up, but then he felt her hand grab his. 

“You should rest too, Neil. I kind of deprived you of your sleep last night” Claire chuckled. She got a small nod and a smile before he left. 

\------------

Later that day;

Morgan had just finished her shift, well she had worked an hour extra, but she didn’t really mind. She checked on Claire before she left, she was sound asleep and she didn’t and to wake her so she left. She ran into Park on the way out and they decided to go get a drink at the bar. She certainly could use one after a long day like this. 

Entering the bar Park met some of his old buddies from the Police where he’d worked before. Morgan however saw a familiar face sitting at the far corner of the bar. 

“Didn’t take you for drink-away-all-your-sorrows type of guy” Morgan said as she sat down beside dr. Melendez, ordering herself a drink. 

“I’m not.” He said quickly. 

“Certainly seems like it.” Morgan said and looked at him. His head hung over his glass, obviously had had one too many. “Claire told me all about last night. How you saved her. I’d think you’d be happy she’s okay...why are you moping about?” Morgan asked, taking a sip of her mimosa. 

“I’m angry. At the people doing that to her.” He said simply. He hadn’t even looked at Morgan, he was staring into the liquid in his glass. 

“I also think you’re angry at yourself.” Morgan said, but he only snorted like she just had said something stupid. “I think you care about her, more than a resident, more than a friend. And I think it really scared you, that she got injured., and you haven’t even told her how you feel.” 

Neil was quiet as she spoke. It amazed him how Morgan always was so spot on. He tried to deny it, but Morgan gave him a look that said she saw through all his bullshit. 

“How do you know?” He asked

“Well, Shaun helped a little. He noticed the way you always sneak glances at her, your eyes light up when she enters a room. And the way she tucks her hair behind her ears and giggles when she talks to you. You two are obviously smitten with each other, but you are both too stubborn to admit it to yourselves.” 

“It could never happen, she’s my resident.” he sighed and looked away. 

“So you’re gonna let that stop you? You are not exactly a feelings-guy, but here you are, clearly aching for her. Isn’t she worth the risk?” Morgan said passionately. When it came to love she didn’t really care about rules and outranking.   
“I also know Claire, it’s not often she let her guard down with guys. She does that with you. If you’re in any doubt she doesn’t like you back, I swear she does. She was blushing like a teenage girl when she told me how you ripped off her shirt in your bed last night.”

Neil looked at Morgan, a small smile on his lips. “She told you about that?” Morgan gave a small nod. “Well it’s not exactly how I imagined her in my bed..” He smiled, thinking about it, realizing his mistake as he saw Morgan gasp.

“You fantasize about her in your bed?” Morgan said a bit loud, her excitement clearly showing. “Okay, if you don’t actually do anything about it, I will use this against you, I’ll tell her.” Morgan grinned.

“Morgan, come on.” He bit his lip. 

“Let her heal, get back to work and all of that. Then you either tell her how you feel or you quit stringing her along. Because you don’t get to hurt her.” Morgan stated.

He was quiet for awhile, thinking. “Fine” he said at last and Morgan smiled happily.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Finally finished the third chapter, and I hope you like it! One question though; what would you like to see in the following chapters?

Chapter 3

It was three weeks since Claire had her accident, and she was back on her feet. She started working again today, and she couldn’t be more excited. She hated just sitting at home doing nothing. She was excited to see her friends and co-workers again. 

Her first day back was great. Everyone was pleased to see her again, but one person hadn’t showed up to great her. She figured he was probably busy, but she was still a bit disappointed. She didn’t see him all day, until she was about to leave, and she ran into him in the parking lot. 

“dr. Melendez!” she called out, smiling slightly

Neil had known she was starting work again today but he wasn’t able to face her, not yet. Then he heard her as he was about to get into his car.

“dr. Browne, hey. How are you feeling?” he turned around, smiling at her. 

“I’m good, thanks. I didn’t see you all day.” she started “hey, maybe we could get a drink, catch up?” she asked, smiling nervously.   
Neil sighed softly, “listen Claire, I’m a bit tired. Another time?” He said before he got into his car. “See you tomorr-” Claire began, but he had already slammed the door. 

They didn’t speak to each other all week, except for things work-related. Claire would always try to start a conversation, but he dismissed her every time. He was clearly avoiding her, but she could not figure out why. 

\--------

The four of them sat around a table, drowning in paperwork and articles, trying to figure out a solution to an upcoming surgery. Neil kept stealing glances at Claire, not really noticing that Morgan and Park was there as well. He hated avoiding her like he did, it wasn’t fair to her. But he really didn’t know what else to do. 

After a long day’s work, Morgan and Park cleared out. Claire remained, helping him clean up. They were both quiet until Claire finally spoke. 

“I’m not leaving until you tell me why you are avoiding me” She said, trying to gain eye contact with him. 

“Dr. Browne I...this is not a good time” he started. 

“Yes it is, you refuse to talk to me” Claire said slightly irritated. He put his jacket on and grabbed his bag before heading out the door. “It’s been a long day, Claire..” He said heading to the elevator. 

She followed him, refusing to let him go. “You don’t get to do this again!” She reached the elevator just in time to get in before the doors closed. She started yelling at him for avoiding her. She had been bottling up all these feelings and it all just came out. 

“Jesus, Claire! you’re making it very hard not to love you!” he suddenly shot out. It wasn’t intentional, but he couldn’t bear listening to her yelling without defending himself. 

Claire’s yelling abruptly stopped after his comment. She stood still, looking at him. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked.

Neil’s head was filled with thoughts and in that moment he couldn’t really control what came next. He took a step towards her, closing the distance between them. Pushing her gently against the elevator wall before his lips crashed down on hers. 

Claire didn’t have time to think before he had pinned her arms above her head against the wall, and his lips met hers. She kissed him back without thinking. She had long imagined kissing him, but she had never expected a kiss like this. It was hard and intense, not soft and sweet like she first had imagined. It was great though, she’d never been kissed like that before, he truly was a great kisser, making her moan involuntary against his lips. 

He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers, smiling slightly before he disappeared out the doors as they opened and a few other doctors stepped inside. She didn’t have any time to react before he was gone and she stood there completely baffled. 

She eventually got back to her apartment. Her thoughts still wandering back to the feeling of his soft lips on hers. She was still turned on by the intense kiss and had to take a shower to get her thoughts on something else. 

Neil had just came back home. Debating whether kissing her had been a good or a bad move. She had kissed back so she obviously liked it, but it was wrong of him though, kissing his resident...but honestly he didn’t care. He wasn’t able to just ignore her, not when she was putting in so much effort getting him to admit his feelings. He sighed and went to bed, he didn’t have any trouble falling asleep, but it was no doubt who was the main character of his dreams this night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Sorry it took a while to upload this last chapter. I'm not really happy with how it turned out but I hope you like it anyways. Let me know if you want me to write more!

Chapter 4

The next morning Neil got to work early to finish some work from last night. He had trouble concentrating because his mind kept wandering back to last night’s elevator ride. The door to his office suddenly burst open and in came Claire. He looked up, smiling to greet her but her face expression made his smile fade.

“Okay, you better explain yourself. Because I don’t know what makes you think it’s okay to go all Christian Grey on me and then just leave.” Claire said, not angry but rather confused. 

Neil sighed softly and stood up. “Claire, not here.” He said and looked around, anyone could walk by his office which had glass doors. 

“You can’t avoid this, Neil. You basically told me you loved me” she said in a hushed voice. 

Neil took a step closer, placing a hand on her arm. “What happened last night it.. it was the wrong approach, I’m sorry. You know we can’t get into the details of it here, Claire, without the risk of others seeing or hearing.” He looked at her, hoping she wouldn’t be angry with him. Well more than she already was. “Listen, meet me outside the hospital after our shift tonight, I promise I’ll explain on the way home.” he said, hopefully.

Claire froze slightly at his touch and sighed softly. It was truth to what he said and he seemed truly genuine. “Fine” Claire said finally. “But if you try anything to avoid me..” she started and gave him a serious look. 

He threw his hands up in defence, “I won’t, I promise” Neil stated. He sighed in relief when Claire nodded. 

“Good” she said and turned around heading for the door, but stopped when he spoke again.

“Oh, and Claire?” Neil asked.

“Yeah?” she turned around and looked at him. 

“Who’s Christian Grey?” he asked, referring to her comparison earlier in their conversation. 

Claire suddenly smiled, with a hint of a rose color rushing to her cheeks. “Google it” she simply said before she left his office and started with her rounds. 

\----

After his shift ended he was both nervous and excited. Not knowing if Claire was still mad at him. He headed outside and spotted her curly brown her on a bench nearby. He walked over to her smiling softly. “Hey”

Claire looked up, “hey” she smiled and stood up. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to yell at you, Neil” she chuckled slightly at the sight of his nervous expression. 

They started walking down the street, it was dark and smelled of rain. “I never meant to avoid you, Claire.” he started. “It really scared me when you got injured. And well I was too stubborn to actually admit that I have feelings for you, so I thought it would go over eventually if I avoided you..which only had the opposite effect” It was only Neil who spoke the whole way, Claire simply listening to what he said. They slowed down and eventually stopped when they got closer to where Neil lived. 

“And I’m sorry about the kiss last night..I got a bit carried away I guess.” He said slightly embarrassed. 

Claire smiled softly, she’d never seen Neil like this before. It was kind of amusing. 

“I’m in love with you as well, Neil. And maybe I should’ve told you before, but I also fear what might happen if someone caught us. You’re my boss...it would cost us our jobs wouldn’t it?” Claire said sadly. 

“I don’t care that you’re my resident Claire. It might involve us sneaking around until you’re finished with your residency. And it might lose me my job, but if it means I get to be with you, It would be worth it.” Neil said honestly. 

Claire smiled and closed the distance between them, her lips meeting his. He immediately responded the kiss. His arms pulling her closer, the kiss intensifying. “Do you.. want to.. come inside?” Neil said in between kisses, panting softly. Claire giggled softly and nodded. 

He grabbed her hand as they crossed the street and walked up to his apartment, guiding her inside. It didn’t take them long to get rid of jackets and shoes, and his lips crashed down on hers again, the kiss deeper and needier than the first. Claire worked on the buttons on his shirt as he walked them into his bedroom without breaking the kiss. He threw her on his bed before letting his unbuttoned shirt fall to the floor and then crawling on top of her, placing kisses down her neck. 

Claire moaned softly, her fingers tangling in his hair. He then grabbed her shirt ripping it down the middle, similar to what he had done when she was injured. She gasped and laughed. “I had to” he chuckled

\----

Claire was the one who woke up first the next morning. It took a while before she realised where she was until she looked up and met Neil's eyes. "Are you watching me sleep?" She giggled and yawned.

Neil smiled "yeah, had to make sure this wasn't a dream" Claire smiled at his response, she hadn't been this happy in a long while, and she couldn't be more excited for the days to come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best chapter, but thanks for reading! 
> 
> Also thanks to all who left kudos and comments, I appreciate it!


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